


Fourth

by MyMisguidedFairytale



Series: light reading [11]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cute, F/M, Flowers, Friendship/Love, Gardens & Gardening, One Shot, Pre-Canon, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-15 22:01:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18678196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyMisguidedFairytale/pseuds/MyMisguidedFairytale
Summary: For a Botanical Hunter, there is no greater challenge than growing one of the rarest plants, with the most beautiful flowers. She had tried once, years ago, and failed. Now, she tries again. / Cluck x Kanzai“It's rarer than gold and diamonds combined! Said to be the fourth most beautiful thing in the world!”Kanzai squints, leaning over her palm, looking at the seed. “Not like this, I hope.”Her laugh is like a diamond, clear and bright. And rarer than one, he thinks. She doesn’t laugh nearly often enough, he wants to tell her.“Ofcoursenot. Only when it’s fully, perfectly cultivated. Under the perfect conditions, and even then the flower will only last a week at most before it starts to fade.” She looks up at him, the slightest of smiles growing wider like the flowers she grows. “Want to help me plant it?”





	Fourth

**Author's Note:**

> _Fourth_ was originally written and published on July 07, 2015 on [tumblr](https://cheadle-yorkshire.tumblr.com/post/123489331507/fanfiction-hunter-x-hunter-fourth).
> 
> Everything below is preserved as it was originally posted:
> 
> **Title** : Fourth  
>  **Word Count** : 1155 words  
>  **Pairing** : Kanzai x Cluck  
>  **Summary** : They say this flower is one of the seven most beautiful things in the world, but only when it’s fully cultivated, under the perfect conditions, and even then the flower will only last a week at most before it starts to fade.  
>  **A/N** : Takes place some indeterminate time pre-canon, before the events of _ORCHiDELiRiUM_. Written for HxHWeek2015, and the prompt ‘favorite minor characters.’ I hope you enjoy!

_****_ ****

**_Fourth_ **

The greenhouse is situated near the very top of the Hunter Association headquarters building. Not at the very top—protected like it was, off one of the expansive balconies, the building climbing another five stories higher—there is plenty of sun but no wind to rattle the glass or send her carefully-organized specimens flying. It is coincidentally across from where Cluck houses the birds that carry correspondence to Hunters across the world, when the need arises. She considers this little corner of the building her personal domain, and is happy enough that, for the most part, she has everything completely to herself.

The hands of a clock against the far wall pass the hour mark. “Kanzai’s late,” she mutters to herself, re-examining the elaborate set-up she’s prepared on the low shelf before her. A glass urn, filled with soil of the finest caliber, carefully selected for the nutrient compounds—volcanic soil is highly regarded as the best for growing plants such as these, though many of the botanists she’s consulted on the matter are in favor of a more dense soil from southern Yorubia, where the plant was originally discovered and cultivated—and the sprinkler system she’s built herself, that will use a mist instead of a drip to keep the plant well-hydrated, all sit waiting for its new host. A glance at the thermostat against the other wall confirms that the temperature is perfect. Everything is as it should be.

There is a rap against the door. Cluck turns to see Kanzai, waving at her with the hand not clutching a small cardboard box.

She has the door unlocked and opened and ushers him inside with a speed that would almost embarrass her, in any other circumstance.

“We can’t let too much outside air in,” she says, pushing him towards the urn. “It’ll impact the temperature in here, and if it’s too cold, the seed won’t take.”

“ _We_?” He lets her take the box from his hands, watching as she reverently places it on an empty table. “I would have been here on time, but I shared an elevator with Pariston. He pressed the wrong floor button. Twice.”

She’s gotten the box open, and is fiddling with the package—a perfectly round sphere that she twists, its halves separating down the middle to reveal a dark, oblong seed about the length of her thumbnail. She breathes out, loudly, and Kanzai stares between the two.

“What’s so special about it?”

She turns a sunny smile up at him for asking, and Kanzai is glad when she begins to speak because he suddenly finds himself lost for words. “I’m glad you asked me, instead of, you know, reading the label.” She rolls the box over, revealing the multitude of _fragile_ stamps and customs stickers detailing the official name and provenance of the plant.

“It’s the _Helianthus Meilland_ ,” she continues. “Rarer than gold and diamonds combined! Said to be the fourth most beautiful thing in the world!”

Kanzai squints, leaning over her palm. “Not like this, I hope.”

Her laugh is like a diamond, clear and bright. And rarer than one, he thinks. She doesn’t laugh nearly often enough, he wants to tell her.

“Of _course_ not. Only when it’s fully, perfectly cultivated. Under the perfect conditions, and even then the flower will only last a week at most before it starts to fade.” She looks up at him, the slightest of smiles growing wider like the flowers she grows. “Want to help me plant it?”

Kanzai looks to his own hands. They’re rough, and scarred, and there’s dirt under his fingernails. “I don’t think I’ll be much help.”

“You can help by supervising.” She turns back to the urn—made of glass, so the roots of the plant and all the striations in the soil will be visible—and begins to hollow out the dirt with her fingers.

He’s a little miffed at that. Of course she wouldn’t let him _actually_ assist, and he has to tone down his ego and remind himself that it has nothing to do with him, and he knows next to nothing about the discipline that Cluck’s spent most of her life studying. That the seed in her hand has probably cost her a small fortune, and that she trusted him to deliver it to her. That should be enough.

She drops the seed in, covering it with a thin layer of soil. Then, she adds just enough water—there are beakers and tubes and who knows what else littering the rest of the table—is she collecting _condensation_ to water it? Is it that delicate?

He knows she gets mad whenever anything interrupts her work, so he stays by her side, silently watching and waiting for her to speak.

“Ninety-five percent of these never grow to full maturity,” she says, her voice soft, staring at the indentation in the soil. “Most never grow at all. And probably only one percent of those that do will become something marvelous.”

“I’ve seen pictures of it,” Kanzai finds himself saying, the memory rising up from within him like a bubble. “There’s a painting, in the museum.” At Cluck’s look, he turns away, his face red. “I’ve been to the museum! Anyway, it’s huge. Covers a whole wall. It had to, to include all hundred-something petals—”

“One hundred and twenty,” Cluck corrects him sharply. Her expression softens. “At least, that’s the most that has ever been documented. The weaker specimens will only have a few dozen petals.”

“You’re gonna break that record,” Kanzai says, full of conviction.

“I’ve tried, once before.” She isn’t looking at him—but at the urn. Her eyes are hard. “A few years after I became a Hunter. It didn’t take. Shriveled up and died, before the flower even opened.”

He doesn’t ask why she’s telling him this. It’s rare for her to be so open with anyone, even him, and they’ve known one another about that long. He tries to remember what she was like, then—if he can remember her disappointment at having failed, and is disappointed himself when he can’t.

“Are you kidding? You’re _incredible_. If that flower doesn’t open up, it’s cause it’s scared of you.” His hands ball themselves into fists, and they loosen when she laughs again.

“You always know how to cheer me up,” she says. “I suppose that’s why I keep you around.”

His eyes find hers again, and he looks away—down to her hands, which are small, with long fingers. She has dirt crusted all along her fingernails too.

_A month later_ —it is truly the most beautiful sight of his entire life. The flower is pink, darker around the edges of the petals, and as wide as a frisbee, with a perfect cascade of pointed green leaves beneath the base. And Cluck stands before the flower, a single perfect bloom ensconced in a glass dome. Her hands are shaking.

It has one hundred and twenty four petals.

**Author's Note:**

> 1) They say in the manga that the Scarlet Eyes are one of the Seven Wonders of the World (chapter 101), as in one of the seven most beautiful sights in the world; I began thinking what other kinds of things would qualify. The presence of the Kuruta eyes means that they’re most likely organic in nature and extremely limited in the means of production or acquisition, so I imagined a particular kind of plant wouldn’t be out of place there. Maybe something like a big national monument like a Hunter World grand canyon could fit too, or a really big waterfall. If there was anything man-made in the list, I’d imagine it could be a big architectural feat, like a massive cathedral or something. Maybe it was made with a particularly rare kind of stone, so it’s not only just the building itself that would be rare and beautiful, but the materials as well?
> 
> 2) There is no _helianthus meilland_. You might recognize helianthus as the genus name for sunflowers, which are a common example of the multi-petaled, fibonacci-like design I was inspired by, and meilland is the species name for the Peace Rose, which I’m currently trying to grow and was my inspiration for this story.
> 
> 3) This was the actual type of flower I was trying to emulate for this story, but I couldn’t seem to find any further information on it? I couldn’t find out the name/etc, but here is a picture:
> 
> 4) Thank you for reading! I would appreciate and value your comments.


End file.
